Opinion

The 15th Arts on the Green was successful due to the hard work and effort of our Oldham community. On behalf of the Arts Association of Oldham County (AAOC), board members and steering committee, we thank you all for the time and monies invested in making this community event a top notch national festival. AAOC, as host for Arts on the Green Fine Arts and Crafts Festival, appreciates County Judge David Voegele and Mayor Bill Lammlein for allowing AAOC to host Arts on the Green (AOG) in our community of La Grange.

Kentuckians know by now that President Obama has declared a War on Coal. That’s clear from the 7,000 coal jobs that have been lost since 2009 when this president took office. Eastern Kentucky alone has already seen a three-percent loss in coal jobs in the first quarter of 2014.

If you were watching the local news at all on last Friday, you saw news accounts of the Honor Flight leaving and returning. You probably didn’t think much about what was going on, but I’m going to try and explain how important these flights are.

We learn about love in the family first, and that is not always a good thing. I found these notes from an anonymous mother in Austin, Texas. No information is given what kind of loving response she gave her children as they were experimenting their way through life. She simply lists these as, “Things I’ve learned from my children.”

When I was hired as the newest reporter for The Oldham Era, I knew that there was a certain reputation I would have to live up to; reputation of honesty and trust within this community.

This newspaper is not only award-winning, it is also tradition in this community. I may not be from here but I do know that with tradition comes trust. And I’m hoping to help maintain your trust in our newspaper.

“Remember the time” is a fitting theme for the 2014 Oldham County Day Festivities. Celebrating 50 years of anything is a big deal.

Project Guild of La Grange is celebrating 50 years as an organization in Oldham County. Eighteen women from every part of Oldham County get together monthly to hold on to the legacy of the fourteen women who founded the organization in 1964.

It seems like every day we hear of young people who, to put it lightly, aren’t making good choices. They run the gamut from pure laziness and lack of empathy to drugs and violence.

That’s why events like last Tuesday’s Oldham County Community Scholarship Awards Ceremony are so refreshing. It was the first time I had been involved with the program, and I must say it was an absolute pleasure for several reasons.

Every cloud has a silver lining. My great-grandma Whipple frequently expressed this sentiment. The first time I remember hearing it, I was sitting on the floor of her formal living room, enjoying a lollipop, because great-grandkids are allowed to do that sort of thing. And because she owned a candy shop.

Diane Harrington, of Milwaukee, Ore., had just lost her job. Money would be very tight for awhile. When she returned to the copy store she was so relieved that an honest clerk had set her wallet under the counter with all her money in it. She left the store only to find her car missing. No one had seen it stolen. While she was on the phone with the police a couple hurried into the store, with big smiles they declared, “Your car is not stolen. Come out and see this.”

Abbe Pierre was a well- known French priest who dedicated his life to helping the poor and the destitute. Abbe Pierre had a very clear state of mind. He used to say that we must always keep both eyes open: one eye on the world’s suffering so that we can fight against it and the other on its wondrous beauty so that we may give thanks for it.

A single frame comic reads, “Life Before Google: a short story.” Two characters are sitting on the couch, eating popcorn. One states, “I just thought of something I’d like to know more about.” The other responds, “That’s a darn shame.”

Long before instant cereals, frozen waffles, frozen French toast, and toaster pops. my mother would fix breakfast for me and my brother.

Sometimes it was just cereal with or without fruit. Many times it would be pancakes, waffles, French toast or eggs. Breakfast might be soft boiled eggs, scrambled eggs or an omelet. Often we had bacon, sausage, scrapple or pork roll with our eggs. A large breakfast would include one of those meats, hash browns or home fried potatoes with eggs.

I met JD Sparks on Oldham County Day several years ago when he offered to carry my fold up lawn chairs, without their cover, which is difficult, about two blocks from my van to the Oldham County Republican Women’s Club booth and also carried them back at the end of the day. JD Sparks has always volunteered to help all year-round with projects that benefit the community, the Republican Party and many other groups, such as the veterans.

Last Sunday we lifted up our prayer requests and celebrations. There were a lot of prayers for people whose loved ones had died or were dying. There were a couple of 40-something parents who were dying of cancer. We prayed for them and their children. There was the infant who died in a tragic accident. She was the only child her older parents were able to have.

Millions of folks struggle with the problem of inadequate self-care – not taking very good care of ourselves. We know the things we should do but we just don’t do them. There is a huge gap between what we know and what we do.

We must practice the power of positive doing. We’ve all heard of the power of positive thinking. My goal is to take the next step and get into action no matter what. By taking action, you will move yourself from the back of the bus up to the front to the driver’s seat where you belong.

I am not fond of clichés, but the older I get, the more I understand the value of stepping outside the comfort zone and broadening your horizons. We often leave this to the young with admonitions off: go to college, discover yourself before you get married and travel before you have kids.

It is said that Christians are being martyred for their faith more frequently than ever before in human history. All over the world, in countries run by kings, tyrants and dictators, it is dangerous to be a Christian. It is common for family members to turn their own children or spouse into the religious police for discipline when they find out that he or she has become a Christian.